Short version: Meh.
Long version: Like Independence Day, except without Will Smith - or any charismatic characters whatsoever. In fact, the most endearing character in the entire movie is played by... Tom Cruise. Crap.
Cruise's children - while decently acted - were so poorly written (or possibly written as brats so well) that I very much wanted to see them get eaten by the martians. The special effects were impressive, though I'm really beginning to suffer from FX fatigue, I think.
"Jersey being smashed to flaming bits by giant robots? Impossibly lifelike graphics? Yawn."
One thing I will say is that Spielberg continues a long streak of being unable to end a film properly. I think the last satisfying ending Spielberg made was in Jurassic Park 2. Since then, all of his movies have generally been good except for the last 10-30 minutes. The most egregious example of this is of course AI, where a visually brilliant movie that paid incredible tribute to Stanley Kubrick's last work was ruined by Spielberg's "the aliens bring him back to life" ending.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I would say WotW is definitely better than Independence Day, and about one billion times better than the abortion that was Signs.
God I hated that movie.
On a more general note, Vicki and I went to go see the movie at the Rainbow theatre in St. Lawrence Market, where you can still see movies cheap on a Tuesday night - admission for both of us plus a drink to share cost only $12. That's 2 tickets and a drink - in some theatres in Toronto, that'll only get you one admission, if that. In fact, I think most movies I've seen this summer have usually cost us (with drinks) close to $30. The screens are a bit smaller than usual, but not terribly so. And most importantly, they're not owned and run by the new national monopoly of Cineplex/Famous Players. So if you live in Toronto and want to go see a movie, I'd reccomend checking the times at Rainbow first. It's nice to leave the theatre without feeling forcibly sodomized.
The link for the Market Square theatre is here. You can also find other theatres across Canada.
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The only thing Tom Cruise needed to do was punch an alien, say, "Welcome to Earth" and sit down heavily, quip, "Now that's what I call a close encounter" while smoking a stoogie. That would have made it alllllll better. 8 )
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